Khalid Adem (born 1975) was the first Ethiopian to be sued and the first person convicted of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the United States, deriving allegations that he personally persecuted 2 - a year-old daughter clitoris with scissors.
Video Khalid Adem
Capture and cost
Adem, a Georgia gas station officer from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was arrested on March 28, 2003, and charged with batteries and cruelty to children. District prosecutor Gwinnett alleged that in 2001 Adem had used scissors to remove her two-year-old daughter's clitoris in the apartment kitchen of Duluth Adem which was shared with his wife, Fortunate.
During the trial, Adem's wife, fortunate, testified: "She said she wanted to keep her virginity... She said it was God's will I became angry in my mind I thought she was crazy."
In the original Ethiopia of Adem, while female genital mutilation (FGM) was illegally created by the 2004 Criminal Code, and was officially banned by the Ethiopian government, this practice remains a very common procedure, with the World Health Organization estimating FGM prevalence in the country in 2005 of 74 , 3%
Maps Khalid Adem
Trial
Adem denied she had taken out her daughter's clitoris or asked anyone else to do so. The defense attorney acknowledged that the girl had actually had her clit removed, but it was implied that the Fortunate Adem family - immigrants from South Africa - might be responsible.
Adem's lawyer argues that Fortunate's allegations were the result of a fierce divorce and custody of combat the couple traveled in 2003, in which Fortunate received sole custody of the girl. The fact that the crime occurred in 2001 and has not been reported by Fortunate until 2003 is used to indicate the allegations are false and vengeful, because the injury will cause the child to be very ill and will require constant cleaning.
Luckily claiming she did not find her daughter's amateur clitoridectomy to quarrel with her husband in 2003 about the practice of female genital mutilation, where, according to Fortunate, Khalid Adem implies that it has already happened to their daughter. The two divorced a few months later, and Fortunate was awarded the sole custody of the girl.
Khalid claims to the contrary, that it was Fortunately that had revealed to him that their daughter had taken out her clitoris, and that she wrongly accused him of getting leverage for the prisoner's battle.
The defense lawyer raised the question of why Adem, an ethnic Ethiopian growing up in the United States, would feel compelled to cut, especially since no close family (ie his sister) is circumcised. Moreover, the operation in his home country, Ethiopia, is almost always done by women. The defense also tried to doubt the truth of the testimony of Adem's daughter, who was two years old at the time of the incident, but seven at the time she testified before the court. Defense counsel W. Mark Hill brought psychologist Jack Farrar to ask questions about fake memories. The fact of clitoridectomy is not disputed by the defense. The inability of the prosecutor to identify the "second person" who allegedly helped Adem conduct the operation was also used to imply that the story was wrong.
Conviction and public response
On November 2, 2006, Adem was convicted of battery cruelty and atrocities against children and sentenced for two 15-year periods, simultaneously, the first 10 years to be served in prison and five years remaining on probation. He also received a fine of $ 5,000, with an additional $ 32 per month for trial and supervision fees.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said, "If the whole community is involved in this practice, you can not imprison the whole community, you have to change your mindset, and that takes time."
Ben Koissaba, a Kenyan Maasai leader (who considers male and female circumcision as part of their distinctive cultural heritage), quoted by Reuters as saying, "If a woman is not cut, she remains a baby forever and can not perform social rites with women another... [Adem] did it because he thought it would be a bad sign to his son if he did not, maybe he should be rebuked, not imprisoned, but we should try to understand his culture. "
Legal changes
At the time of the crime, many countries - including Georgia - have no law on books that specifically deal with female genital mutilation. After Adem's arrest, Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), in collaboration with Fortunate Adem, was able to obtain legislation specifically issued banning female genital mutilation in the state of Georgia. It was enacted in 2005. But Khalid Adem is not prosecuted under this law, because his actions took place before they came into effect.
Deportation
In March 2017, Adem was deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to his home country, Ethiopia, after serving 10 years in prison.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments